Mark McGhee opted for an ambitious team selection, with John Sutton, Chris Porter and David Clarkson carrying the potential for goals.

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The board met on Thursday evening to decide on a final shortlist of candidates to replace Chris Sutton.

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"The sad thing was that they were looking for someone to replace Shearer and Chris Sutton, " Jones reflected.

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And it took Chris Sutton only 16 minutes to give Celtic the lead.

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Celtic opened the scoring on 29 minutes when a loose ball fell to Chris Sutton and he slammed it home.

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Celtic are short of a target man in attack, following Chris Sutton's departure to Birmingham, while Craig Beattie is injured.

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Chris Humphrey crossed for John Sutton to fire Motherwell's clinching goal eight minutes from the end.

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Sutton, younger brother of former Celtic striker Chris, has been linked with summer moves to SPL rivals Inverness and Falkirk.

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Ali made the breakthrough, having Luke Sutton caught behind by David Pipe for 51 before quickly removing Chris Bassano (nought) in the same fashion.

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Motherwell maintained the pressure, but Sutton and Murphy could not make the most of Hateley set-pieces and Chris Humphrey could not quite turn a Jones cross into a team-mate's path.

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